Effect of a corn diet during development on [3H]-spiperone binding in the brain of rats at the perinatal stage

A model of undernutrition based on feeding with a corn-diet (tryptophan deficient) was used to study maturation and physiology of the rat brain 5-HTergic system. Previously, using that model, we observed a decrease in 5-HT uptake in rat brain slices, assuming that some compensatory mechanisms could be implicated at the synaptic level on those conditions. Body, brain weight, and total [3H]-spiperone binding were recorded at two fetal ages and newborn pups from mothers were fed with a corn-diet and with a corn-lysine diet. Significant decreases in body weight and in [3H]-spiperone binding were observed at all ages studied in the corn-based diet groups with respect to controls at the first postnatal day of age, whereas at the 18th gestation day, the [3H]-spiperone binding was higher in the protein restricted and corn-lysine supplemented group than in the control group. Results suggested that expression of 5-HT receptors and possibly their synthesis may be limited at the synaptic level on undernutrition conditions.